doubledee Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 When a User logs out, where should he/she be taken? Before I added "member-only" areas, I would just drop people off wherever they were at, and maybe had a simple condition like this... if (isset($_SESSION['returnToPage']) && ($_SESSION['returnToPage'] == 'account/my_account.php')){ $returnToPage = "/index.php"; }else{ $returnToPage = $_SESSION['returnToPage']; } But now that my website has grown, there are lots of places Users can't be unless they are logged in. The simple solution is to always re-direct people back to "index.php", but is that satisfactory from a UX standpoint? Debbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoseley Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Either the index or the login page is typical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scootstah Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 I vote for the index. Unless your website is unnecessarily complicated, it shouldn't take them long to get back where they were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahngiel Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Who logs out of a website to continue browsing anonymously? No. About the only reasons people log out are to log in as somebody else or they are on a shared computer. in which case the login form is a good place for them to land. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Who logs out of a website to continue browsing anonymously? No. About the only reasons people log out are to log in as somebody else or they are on a shared computer. in which case the login form is a good place for them to land. This. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 How about an index page with a login form on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahngiel Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 How about an index page with a login form on it? a la le facey-book. i mean really, what purpose do anon visitors have going to your index page? think like your users, design for your users. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philip Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 Content on your index page... e.g. news sites or forums. Of course you also have your members-only sites (like facebook) Anyways I think it is kind of a moot point as Mahngiel pointed out. I too highly doubt a high percentage of users will logout just to go do more around the site. Most either navigate away to another site or login with different user credentials. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubledee Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Content on your index page... e.g. news sites or forums. Of course you also have your members-only sites (like facebook) Anyways I think it is kind of a moot point as Mahngiel pointed out. I too highly doubt a high percentage of users will logout just to go do more around the site. Most either navigate away to another site or login with different user credentials. Valid point!! I am leaning towards - consistent with the rest of the messaging on my website - displaying a message "You have successfully logged out" in the center of the page, and keep my usual Page Header and side bars in case they want to log in as someone else, or they do want to navigate somewhere else. I think that combines what everyone has said above into a unified log-out solution. Thanks, Debbie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoseley Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 How about an index page with a login form on it? a la le facey-book. i mean really, what purpose do anon visitors have going to your index page? think like your users, design for your users. Facebook's index page IS their login page. I can think of cases of websites where users will log out to browse anonymously, though. e.g., Real-estate listing sites - property owners may log out to see how their listing looks to others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 How about an index page with a login form on it? a la le facey-book. i mean really, what purpose do anon visitors have going to your index page? think like your users, design for your users. Facebook's index page IS their login page. I can think of cases of websites where users will log out to browse anonymously, though. e.g., Real-estate listing sites - property owners may log out to see how their listing looks to others. Sites like that should provide a "View Your Listing" link, just like LinkedIn does. I can view my profile as if I was anyone else looking at it, so I can see how it looks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahngiel Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Sites like that should provide a "View Your Listing" link, just like LinkedIn does. I can view my profile as if I was anyone else looking at it, so I can see how it looks. I completely agree. It's absolutely annoying to need to log out just to see your public profile/listing/whatever, only to learn you need to log back in to fix something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoseley Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Owners will log out anyway... they don't just want to "view their listings", they want to experience the whole process as a customer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mahngiel Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Owners will log out anyway... they don't just want to "view their listings", they want to experience the whole process as a customer. Haha, what the hell you talking about man? I think you've had too much 4th July juice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smoseley Posted July 5, 2012 Share Posted July 5, 2012 Owners will log out anyway... they don't just want to "view their listings", they want to experience the whole process as a customer. Haha, what the hell you talking about man? I think you've had too much 4th July juice. Haha, I definitely had too much 4th juice, but regarding the above, I'm speaking from experience. Edit: I see how the language was a little confusing, though... the company I work for has a Vacation Rental division. The property owners (Owners) will often log out of their accounts to see how travelers (their customers) will experience the website. That includes viewing listings, sending inquiries, communication, making payments, etc. It's very common behavior in this specific instance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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